Point du Jour International | HOTEL PALESTINE, Antonia RADOS

Like several other of her international media colleagues, from the New York Times, La Stampa, Le Figaro, to the BBC, Antonia Rados lived through the invasion of Iraq from the inside, in Baghdad, at the Palestine Hotel. Constantly having to outwit and negotiate with the Iraqi information and security services, she needed to trick her minders and other “translators“ every day in order to give a version of events and an analysis which was as close as possible to what she witnessed, saw and felt.
Her post-conflict account contrasts with the direct on-air reporting. It has the merit of better explaining of what was seen as the mysterious and unexpected collapse of the regime. Seen from the inner city, notably from the Palestine Hotel, she realized the regime was more concerned with avoiding a popular revolt than confronting the coalition. Among her colleagues in Palestine Hotel, not everybody shared her analysis, but they preserved a strong unity in order to protect their freedom of action, their equipment and colleagues who were not officially accredited by the Ministry of Information.
Her account will give us a different version of the war, beyond the usual media coverage…

Festivals and Awards:
"Grand Prix" of German Television (current affairs) (Germany, 2003)

HOTEL PALESTINE

Director(s): Antonia RADOS – Writer(s): Antonia RADOS Contact Print page